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An uneven collection of essays, writers on other writers, icons if you wish:
* Mary Gaitskill on Linda Lovelace
* Rick Moody on Karen Dalton
* Johanna Fateman on Andrea Dworkin
* Danielle Henderson on bell hooks
* Hanne Blank on MFK Fisher
* Kate Zambreno on Kathy Acker
* Justin Vivian Bond on Karen Graham
* Jill Nelson on Aretha Franklin
* Zoe Pilger on Mary Gaitskill
Best were Gaitskill, Fateman, Henderson, and Zambreno. But then there was also the meta essay of Pilger on Gaitskill, resulting in a reading list for me: Second Sex (Beauvoir), Ravishing of Lol Stein (Duras), Blood and Guts in High School (Acker), The Driver’s Seat (Spark). The collection ends with Zambreno’s portrait of Kathy Acker, including:

Unprofessional notes from a book proposal I tried to write this summer: ” I want to write about feeling dirty and sweaty and gross in public as a woman and writer, like a witch.”

How can you not love this stuff? Except for the very mediocre yet lengthy essay by Rick Moody (hey, white man privilege). MFK Fisher gets a nod, as does bell hooks and Andrea Dworkin. My ladies. Ultimately interesting, but not essential.